Sunday, April 23, 2017

Lauren Brady P4 4/23/17 Pope Francis Compares Refugee Camps to Concentration Camps

At the Basilica of St Bartholomew, Pope Francis made a speech in which, he referenced a refugee he met at a Greek refugee camp on the island of Lesbos. He compared the conditions of the refugee camp to those of a concentration camp "because they are so crowded with people". Those comments were quickly criticized by the American Jewish Committee because the horror and scope of the WWII Nazi concentration camps that killed millions of Jewish people cannot be compared with refugee camps, no matter how crowded.

Obviously, there was some pretty poor word choice here. While the conditions of many refugee camps are deplorable and deserve more international recognition, aid, and funding, it is not comparable to the WWII concentration camps, which used slave labor, execution chambers, and countless other unspeakable methods to torture and murder millions of Jews. However, I agree with Pope Francis's larger point here, which about human rights. Millions of refugees deserve aid and care that they simply are not receiving.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/23/europe/pope-likens-refugee-centers-to-concentration-camps/index.html

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